INSIDE THE BULLS.

`Insult' Stays With The Heat

Luc Longley said the Bulls will try to get into Alonzo Mourning's head, as they did in their first-round sweep of the Miami Heat last season.

"We plan on making that a habit," Longley said Tuesday before the Bulls' 84-77 victory in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. "I don't think taking it personally helps any."

But Mourning was having none of it in the early going. He had 13 points, six rebounds and five blocked shots in the game's first 18 minutes.

Last year, by the time the series ended in a Bulls three-game sweep, the Heat looked disorganized, disoriented and thoroughly discombobulated. Or, to use the familiar locker-room term, they looked as if the Bulls had gotten into their heads.

Not so, coach Pat Riley said.

"They basically insulted us, that's all," he said. "That's not getting into somebody's head. They're laughing at you. Mocking you. Dismissing you. That's what they have the right to do.

"They didn't get into our heads. They beat us. If you've ever been beaten and then somebody can rub it in, so be it. That's not getting into someone's head. That's being beaten and humbled until you have another day."

Wait and see: With the Knicks-Heat series going seven games, the Bulls basically had to wait until the last minute to prepare for either team. But Jordan said it wasn't hard, because the teams have similar styles, thanks to Riley, who used to coach the Knicks.

"We hadn't geared our preparation to either one of them until it was decided who we were going to play," Jordan said. "What Phil (Jackson) used for the first couple of days was for us to work on ourselves and get our game together. We know Miami and New York were very similar. They're both Riley-coached teams."

Advantage, Heat: The Bulls' Brian Williams was asked if Miami has an advantage in any area of this series. After an extremely long pause, Williams offered this classic: "I like their mascot. Burnie is pretty good."

Overhyped: Jackson seems to have had enough of all the Jackson-Riley matchup talk. "I don't think Pat's going to make a jump shot," he said, "and I know he's not going to get a rebound. If he does try to get on the floor, I've been asking him to stay off the court, please, and not defend people."

Then again . . . Players as disparate as Jordan, Rodman and Williams have embraced Jackson, saying he's one of their favorite coaches to play for. But it's not just his personality, according to Williams.

"What he has surprised me with is how he analyzes teams and players and how in depth he looks at how a guy moves on the court or how he runs or what he's capable of," Williams said. "He really just studies every aspect of the game. Nuances are his specialty."

But they didn't inhale: Riley was asked about Jackson's recent assertion that after years of sniping, the rival coaches finally have made peace.

"We had a peace pipe at the league meetings," Riley said. "We sat down and shared a pipe. But it wasn't the old stuff. It's just corn silk now."